I have spent the past seven days in a beautiful house on the shores of South Carolina. There are many many joys associated with such an adventure and one of my favorites is watching the dogs play on the beach.

We’ve gotten to “know” the dogs and the packs they hang with. And each morning I watch for my favorites to emerge from the grassy dunes.

There are the Sprinters – the young agile dogs who bolt out onto the beach on a mission to catch the sand pipers pecking around in the shallow surf. The sprinters run with wild abandon never imagining that they will not achieve success and catch themselves a bird. They never give up. They keep on running, ears floppy, tails waging and tongues hanging, never looking back.

There are also the Explorers. These are the dogs with their nose to the sand, sniffing, digging, rolling in who knows what. They move at a steady pace traversing all aspects of the beach. They don’t want to miss a thing. They glance at the Sprinters with only mild interest and continue on their mission to discover the next great treasure of the beach.

Then there are the Observers. These are the wise, older dogs. They stick pretty close to their people as they take in the activity around them. They occasionally wander off to explore a bit, but mainly are happy to just to be strolling in the fresh air. They sometimes stop to watch the Sprinters, perhaps with a bit of longing for their younger days where they too could sprint, or maybe just to take in the crazy antics.

The one thing that all of the dogs have in common is their zest for living and their appreciation of the moment. Whatever they do -sprint, explore or observe – they do it without reservation or apprehension. They are not looking around to see who’s watching, or if anyone is judging them. They don’t care if they look silly and they don’t hold back. Whatever their role, they play it all out and they enjoy every step of the journey.